Three degrees of Japan's seas

Three degrees of Japan's seas

Hunting for morsels of plankton, a school of spadefish hovers near the ocean surface off Japan's subtropical Bonin Islands. The turquoise color is natural late in the afternoon, when the red rays of the setting sun spread out and grow weak. The waters off the coast of Japan vary from frigid to temperate to tropical. The marine life is uniformly extraordinary.

Three degrees of Japan's seas

Hunting for morsels of plankton, a school of spadefish hovers near the ocean surface off Japan's subtropical Bonin Islands. The turquoise color is natural late in the afternoon, when the red rays of the setting sun spread out and grow weak. The waters off the coast of Japan vary from frigid to temperate to tropical. The marine life is uniformly extraordinary.

Three degrees of Japan's seas

Near Japan's Shiretoko Peninsula, a diver hangs on to part of an ice canopy that can reach a thickness of 25 feet in winter. A decade ago these seas were icebound an average of 90 days a year. Today it is about 65 days.

Three degrees of Japan's seas

Three degrees of Japan's seas

A volcanic beach off Toyama Bay glows electric blue at night. The light comes from female firefly squid, which spawn in spring, then die and wash ashore, their tentacles lit like millions of aquamarine LEDs.

Three degrees of Japan's seas

Three degrees of Japan's seas

A sand tiger shark off the Bonin Islands will soon give birth. During the nine-month pregnancy, the largest two pups will eat their siblings for sustenance, a kind of cannibalism unique to this species.